Posted by neilg
on 2/26/2009, 8:45 pm, in reply to "Re: Question about hypothetical series"
Sean,
I felt you'd already touched on these themes superbly in Choices, which I always thought was a satisfyingly dark and "adult" take on the original series. Change some of the costumes slightly (grunge them up a bit) and you would have had what you seem to be envisioning - the realism of TLOTR films with the situation of the original cartoon.
I just watched Choices again and I have to say it really stands up brilliantly as a serious consideration of what was implied (but never quite stated) in the original cartoon.
I personally don't have a problem with swearing or sexual content - I guess the real issue in question is what would such a series really be about - i.e. is it the characters; an exercise in nostalgia for fans of the old series; the idea of a Dungeons & Dragons Realm; some kind of modern social commentary?
I really enjoyed the recent updating of Battlestar Galactica but I know lots of people who think it was a superficial travesty of what was already a serious and thoughtful television series. I think, in the end, you have to bring to it your own sense of artistic judgement, of what's appropriate or not, and trust that your audience will be with you. Things always go wrong – artistically – when the artist starts trying to second guess her audience. That's my opinion anyway.
With regard to the idea of the team growing older in The Realm – funnily enough, I had a go at something like this many years ago, which I posted a link to here a long while back (the file dates are all around December 2000!
).
It's very dark and, I'm embarrassed to say, a lot ruder than I had remembered, so anyone uncomfortable with a slightly robust (but by no means explicit) sexual content should diligently avoid. But, at least there's no swearing in it - because there's no dialogue whatsoever! 
This is my vision of what happened to the gang as they aged in The Realm into their mid-twenties:
(Warning! Adult situations are depicted - but nothing explicit!)
Silent Coda
And just to plug myself again (sorry, I didn't mean to hijack your thread! 
) - my current Epic Project is very much inspired by our very own Dungeons & Dragons, although, I'm afraid the young ones involved are altogether less heroic than our favourite bunch.
Lots of swearing in this, I'm afraid, and, frankly, it's early days in terms of story but I'm plugging away at it and there's a lot more in terms of plot and characterisation to come.
For anyone interested:
The Dragonkillers
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